It is kind of odd that the strongest sense of Canadian nationalism I have felt in my life (yes Syd's Golden Goal is an unforgettable close second) is while I am the furthest away from Canada I have ever been. In the last week I have befriended a Canadian here who works for a microfinance firm. His name is Alex and is from Quebec City. I can not express how nice it is to be able to sit down and talk about hockey in a country where we might actually be the only 2 people who can have a conversation of the merits of Ovechkin or Crosby.
I have been battling a number of stresses in the past few weeks and dinner conversation here is generally consumed with relflecting on how much easier it is to live in Cameroon at the end of week 5 then at the end of the hour 5. However, I have learned that with stresses comes hard work and if you're patient enough, victory and elation at the end. I have been trying to think about how to run a program in schools here in Limbe both as a way of filling my time once schools start up again but also as a way of spreading what I believe to be beautiful messages through the world's "Beautiful Game." The concept of using sport for social reform has been around since the turn of the 20th century and for me to facilitate emphasizing notions of teamwork, unity, sportsmanship or trust through sport is not difficult because those are all important aspects of being a good athlete. All I really have to do is point it out.
I realized early on in my trip here that the things that I thought I was going to be able to accomplish here were VERY ambitious for only 3 months of work. And actually once school starts I only have 6 weeks left in Limbe which is NOTHING considering the message I am trying to get accross. But I found a school here to help me do these things. I met a very nice lady last night at dinner who happens to run a school here and she loved my idea and wants me to help her facilitate programs for her 400 students using sport to send a message. As well, she has asked me to put together programs for some of her students with learning disabilities AND run a seminar for her teachers on the importance of using phsyical activity in social development. Today has been an exciting day! OH HAPPY WEDNESDAY.
I now look forward to the next few weeks with an amazing sense of accomplishment and an amazing sense of excitment for the possibilities. I still can not believe that in a week and a half it is September and that I will only have 6 weeks left in Limbe after that. I still have not fully grasped that 3 months in the long run is no time at all but I am starting to understand that while at first I may have set outrageous goals for myself, it is OK to take comfort in small victories and that great things can still be done is short periods of time. It just all depends on how you look at them. If I can help just one player make better decisions or just one student with their studies ... well that seems pretty great to me!
Other positive developments include that I now have a working light in my room which is lovely AND I played a pick up game of football yesterday with some very large local Cameroonian men and I did not suck super terribly!!!
Some amazing experiences here in Limbe that I can not express in words how excited I am to apply to the rest of my life!
Cheers,
Josh
No comments:
Post a Comment